Mick Fanning is having the biggest year of his life. Whether he claims his fourth world title or not in Hawaii this winter the three-time world champion certainly boasts a resume of achievements for 2015. Donating $75K to shark attack survivor Mathew Lee, surviving one himself, landing the cover of Elle Australia (and Tracks back in June), inducted into the sports hall of fame, nominated for a Don award and as we revealed yesterday, granting a brain cancer patient a dream come true through his work with the Starlight Foundation. Last night he took out Sportsman of the Year Award at the GQ Men Of The Year ceremony, adding one more to the pool.
Fanning told The Daily Telegraph he was honoured to be in the company of Australia’s top athletes. “To be classed against such great sportsmen in Australia is huge,” he said. “To tell you the truth, I have learned a lot about myself and how to deal with things [since the attack]. There’s been good and bad, so I guess it has been one of those years. It will be a good one to remember.”
But it was his comments to NEWS.com.au that revealed how the experience of being attacked by a shark in the final of J-Bay Open had put things into perspective and changed his life indefinitely.
“You sort of have different moments throughout your career where sometimes you take things for granted, sometimes you get a wake up call,” said the 34-year-old.
“For me I was really appreciating everything I was getting and everything that I was doing; I felt like it was starting to build and then it was like, ‘here you go, deal with that’. It’s just a different sort of world.”
“I guess the one thing it sort of did was just made me appreciate the love and everything that I got from family and friends – even still, going around the world and seeing people I haven’t seen (since it happened), it just makes me appreciate those sort of people and just that support.
That support will be coming from beyond his family and friends come the Pipe Masters in little under a month. What a way to wrap up a year should he come home with his fourth world title, especially with the odds on his side.
